'The keys of Damascus': Assad draws red line on Syria

M O N D AY 27 JANUARY 2014 The Syrian opposition say the government has ai!e" to a""ress #resi"ent $ashar a!% Assa"&s po!iti'a! (t(re at pea'e ta!)s in *eneva+

The Syrian government and opposition delegation sat down again with a UN mediator for talks in Geneva on Monday. However, the Syrian government team are said to have presented a "declaration of principles" that did not mention transfer of power. pposition!s chief negotiator Hadi al "ahra said# "The declaration is o$tside the framework of Geneva, which centres on creating a transitional governing %ody. &t fails to address the core iss$e." There was little sign on Monday of a softening of positions on the core iss$e

as the opposition and their 'estern and (ra% %ackers say was agreed %y a United Nations conference at Geneva )* months ago. Syria!s +ep$ty ,oreign Minister ,aisal al-Mikdad said .resident al-(ssad had no intention of giving $p "the keys to +amasc$s". "This is a red line. &f some people think we are coming here to give them the keys of +amasc$s they are wrong," said Mr al-Mikdad, echoing the lang$age US .resident "arack attack in Syria. ,oms pposition spokesman Mon/er (k%ik also told reporters that so far there has %een "no progress in the h$manitarian corridors". ( tentative agreement was reached on S$nday to let women and children leave a %lockaded part of the old city of Homs. Mr (k%ik descri%ed it as a moral o$trage and said people trapped in the city sho$ld receive aid inside their city and then have the freedom to leave or stay. He said the city of Homs remains "$nder starvation siege", and that there has %een no progress in the release of the prisoners. "The regime is saying that it!s going to allow the convoys," Mr (k%ik said. "There are )0 tr$cks of 1ed 2rescent waiting there for the regime to allow them in %$t they are not allowed yet." Mr al-Mikdad told a news conference on S$nday that the government wo$ld let women and children leave the city centre if re%els gave them safe passage. "$t Mr (k%ik said people in Homs sho$ld %e given access to aid in their city, rather than evac$ating them. %ama $sed to descri%e a chemical weapons

"'e don!t tr$st them of co$rse %$t here we are now doing those agreements $nder the United Nations! management so there sho$ld %e g$arantees of co$rse that the regime sho$ld keep the safety.

""$t o$r position is we don!t agree that these people sho$ld go o$t of their city. $r position is that they sho$ld stay in the city and get the food in their

homes. This is their right," he said. "oth sides claim to represent the Syrian people.

(ra% 3eag$e and United Nations envoy 3akhdar "rahimi said opposition delegates, who have asked for the release of nearly 45,555 detainees, had agreed to a government re6$est to try to provide a list of those held %y armed re%el gro$ps - tho$gh many of these gro$ps, fighting among themselves, do not recognise the negotiators! a$thority.

Underlining the diffic$lty of implementing even local agreements on the gro$nd, a UN agency trying to deliver aid to a %esieged re%el area of +amasc$s said state checkpoints had hampered its work, despite ass$rances from the government that it wo$ld allow the distri%$tions.

.rofo$nd m$t$al mistr$st and the a%sence from Geneva of powerf$l &slamist opposition gro$ps make any s$%stantial progress very diffic$lt, and previo$s aid deals and ceasefires in Syria have proved short-lived. &A!%-ae"a haven& The western-%acked opposition, made $p largely of e7iled Syrians, says .resident (ssad has lost legitimacy and can no longer lead a co$ntry after $nleashing the military on largely peacef$l protests nearly three years ago.

The government says the re%ellion is rife with "terrorists" and that .resident (ssad is the only person a%le to end the fighting, %laming the west and G$lf states - especially Sa$di (ra%ia - for t$rning the co$ntry into an (l-8aeda haven.

Homs was considered a promising place to start the negotiations. Neigh%o$rhoods in the old city have %een ravaged and emptied of residents following repeated government assa$lts to reclaim control from re%els.

(ctivists say a%o$t *55 families are trapped, witho$t reg$lar access to food, medicine and %asic necessities. The two sides failed to reach agreement on a prisoner e7change, as Mr "rahimi had hoped.

Mr (l-Mikdad said a list of names s$%mitted %y the opposition was greatly e7aggerated, adding the government had no children in its 9ails, while the opposition said it had no control over the militants who have kidnapped h$ndreds of people.